MÄR:Remixed and Retold
by SandTanukiKunoichi
Summary: Toramizu Ginta and Akacho Kyoko, my character, are transported to MÄRCHEN by the Gatekeeper Clown. Chaos, humor, love, and more. Rating will change. pleas don't mad and take away this fic! thank you and enjoy. :3 I'm Back ! :D
1. It begins

mär: Remixed and Retold

hello! and welcome to my newest story!! ^0^

i was re-reading the first three manga volumes when i thought, 'wonder what would've happened if a second person was allowed through the gatekeeper clown?'

and it this story hit me like a ton of bricks!!!! ^_^

hope you enjoy!!! and i know i need to work on my other story but please be patient!!!!

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Disclaimer:

do you think i would writing fanfiction if i owned the manga/anime?!?!?!?!?!?! no, i think not. i own nothing. it belongs to Anzai Nobuyuki-sensei/whoever made the manga into an anime. all i know is that they're rolling in money, when i have jack squat. ; A ; Y_Y' lol. :)

Important Note: This story starts at the first chapter of mär and continues from there but with a twist. :3

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"blah"- Talking

'blah'- Thinking

_blah_- Flashbacks/scenery changes/letters/dream

**blah**- Voice/emphasis/other

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"GRAAAAAH!! STRIKE, THUNDER FORCE!!!" yelled Toramizu Ginta as he jumped onto his desk, gripping his ruler like a sword, and then suddenly stopped.

"Uh…" were the intelligent words that came out of his mouth as he was now conscious and the class fell silent.

"Ginta…you just…can't stop, can you?!" said Yazawa-sensei, the teacher, as his anger spiked and the piece of chalk in his hand snapped from his rising.

"GO DO 100 LAPS AROUND THE TRACK!!!" the teacher yelled.

**Toramizu Ginta(14). Middle School 2****nd**** year.**

Ginta sat on the classroom floor, panting and wheezing from running.

**Athleticism: 0. Vision: 0.1.(Too much gaming).**

"You're pathetic, Gin!" said one of Ginta's classmates as he stood not too far from the wheezing Ginta.

He continued with, "I mean, passing out on the 6th lap! No stamina!"

He then turned to teasing, "Here's your Thunder Force. Defeat Yazawa with this!"

A random student laughed in the back round as Ginta said as his anger started to rise, "Are you …makin' fun o' me?!"

**Grades: below average.**

" 'Course you'll need to double you height. You should drink more milk!" the same guy said as he lifted Ginta off the ground by the back part of his school uniform's shirt.

**Always at the front of the line for the morning assembly.**(1)

Said classmate got smacked in the back of the head as female voice said, "I told you to stop it!"

Koyuki, the female whom just smacked her classmate in the back of the head, then asked, "Will you guys quit bullying Ginta?!"

"Yeah, you guys should act your age, not you shoe size, you bakas." another female voice calmly said as she stood right next to Koyuki.

This female that stood next to Koyuki was Akacho Kyoko, who was the tallest, smartest, most athletic, and had the best eyesight in the class, but was an ex-yankee, wore weird jewelry, has a fiery temper, an okay face, long, naturally orange hair, deep purple eyes, and had an okay body, toned and strong muscles, hidden nicely by her pale skin, and graceful hands with the nails painted black.

"C'mon…we're not bullyin' him, Koyuki, Kyoko." another classmate said.

He then added, "We're testin' him! Like…how far will his moth stretch?" he the grabbed the corners of Ginta's mouth and stretched them in opposite directions, random classmates laughing in the background.

"Quit it!!" Koyuki yelled at them.

"Seriously." Kyoko said calmly as she subtly got closer to Ginta and try and free him.

Ginta then snapped and said, "Now…you really…MADE ME MAD!!" as he angrily chased his classmates.

"Ginta's lost it!" one them yelled as ran from Ginta's rampage.

"S'ok. He'll crash after two minutes." the other said.

Both Koyuki and Kyoko sighed at the scene before them.

_::Later::_

"So. What were you dreaming today?" Koyuki asked Ginta as they, Koyuki, Kyoko, and Ginta, walked home from school. (2)

"The usual right?" Kyoko asked as she stuck her hands into her skirt pockets. (3)

"Yep!" Ginta said as put his hands behind his head and then continued with, "The fairyland of Märchen!! A demon king invades!! He abducts the princess and I battle him!!"

He then said in a slightly dejected tone, "If I'd kept dreamin' a little longer, I've won…"

"Hey, hey! What kind of girl is the princess? Is she cuter than me?" Koyuki asked as she looked at Ginta with a curious glint in her eyes and cute smile.

Ginta blushed as he remembered that the girl in his dream an exact duplicate of Koyuki.

"She's 100 times cutter'n you! No, 1000 times!" Ginta said, lying to Koyuki.

Kyoko chuckled as she saw through Ginta's lie and the interaction between him and Koyuki.

Koyuki responded with, "That's mean!"

Ginta then said, "But you know…I've been counting. I've had that dream…exactly 102 times!"

He continued with, "I can see the mountains…the rivers…the candy houses and laughing trees. There's a bird with three heads…and dwarfs…and fairies…!"

"And do the butterflies talk?!" Koyuki asked, getting excited about the world that Ginta was talking about.

Ginta responded with, "Baka! Butterflies don't talk! It's the flowers that talk!"

"If there really is a world like the ones in my dreams…I wish I could go!! Just once!!" Ginta said, with enthusiasm.

"Heh. I'd go wit ya Gintan; sounds way cooler than this place." Kyoko said with a small grin as she called Ginta by her favorite nickname for him.(4)

Koyuki gave her friends a small smile and then said, "Don't worry! I believe you will, Ginta!"

Ginta then asked/said, "Really?! You're the only one other than Kyoko who doesn't laugh…"

Koyuki responded with, "Why should I? I believe in UFOs and ghosts, too!"

Koyuki pulled out two chocolate bars and gave one to Kyoko and one to Ginta and then said, "But before you go…You need to eat well and get stronger! Or you'll get creamed in that world too, Ginta!"

"Later Koyuki! And don't worry, if I'm goin' wit 'im, he'll have nothing to worry about!" Kyoko said as Koyuki quickly walked in the direction of her house.

Ginta looked at Kyoko with a slightly peeved face and said, "Did you have to say that?"

Kyoko chuckled and said as she put the chocolate bar into her pocket, "I'm joking Ginta, I would help you time to time, but I'd let you fight your own battles. I only said it to relieve her of worry."

"Yeah, whatever." Ginta replied they continued walking to their homes.

"Ginta…" Kyoko started to say with a smile on her face.

"What?" he asked as they continued walking.

"…I have dreams about that place too." Kyoko said with a cat-like grin.

"Really?" Ginta asked.

"Hai, same place but my dreams show a family; a mom, dad, and an orange-haired, purple-eyed girl, and they leave an island country of wizards and witches, and live in a small house and make these weird jewelry." Kyoko said as she touched her silver necklace that had an angel with her wings extended and was holding a small, shiny red stone in her cupped hands.

"That, and you don't remember anything before your 8th birthday and were adopted." Ginta added.

"Well…that too." Kyoko agreed as they both entered the apartment complex, went up the stairs and when they got to Ginta's floor, she stopped and said, "Later Ginta." and then continued walking up the stairs.

"Later Kyoko." Ginta said as he walked into the hall and went to the apartment room where he lived.

_::A few minutes later::_

"The land of Märchen? There's no such place." Ginta's mom said with a straight face.

"But 102 times! That's weird!!" Ginta said loudly as his mom scooped more rice into her bowl.

"Yeah, yeah. Like your brain!" said in a nonchalant way.

She continued with, "Got another call from your teacher today. "Your son is always sleeping!" Which wouldn't be so bad if you didn't also dream while you're awake!!"

"Do you enjoy crushing your son's dreams?! Aren't you a fantasy writer?!" Ginta yelled at his mom angrily.

His mother retorted with, "I'm a writer, not a slack-jawed moron!! I write to pay for your pencils and glasses!!" she yelled back just as angrily.

"Then I'll drop outta school!!!" Ginta yelled back.

"You'll have to be tougher'n this to live on the streets!!" she yelled back.

"Would both o' ya shut the hell up?!?! The whole apartment complex can hear you!!!" Kyoko yelled from her apartment room one floor above them.

Both were silent for a few seconds before Ginta's mom said, "Your friend is good at shutin' people up."

Ginta nervously laughed and said, "You don't know the half of it." as he took his dirty dinner dish and brought it into the kitchen.

_::Later::_

The analog clock (5) read 5 minutes past midnight as Ginta continued to play video games.

Ginta started to get tired and he thought, 'When I first dreamed of…that land…I didn't even count how many times I saw it. But the dreams I had once a day in elementary school…come several times a day now.'

He continued to think, 'I've dreamt of stealing medicine from an old witch. Of turning into a bird and flying towards a castle on a cliff.'

Ginta saved and turned off the game he was playing, took off and put away his glasses, and then he thought, 'Every night I ask, "what adventures will I have tonight?" Going to bed is more exciting than playing video games!'

Ginta plopped onto his futon and then thought, '…O' course, someday I'll be an adult. I'll go to college, get a job, get married…I'll be a different me. Maybe…I'll have the dreams less and less. Until I've forgotten.'

Ginta sat up quickly and thought, I don't like that. I don't want to grow up! …Now I'm sounding like Peter Pan.'

"Could he…take me to Never Land, just like Wendy?" he asked himself as some sadness started to grow.

"…Yeah, sure." Ginta said in a slightly sarcastic tone and he then thought, 'There's no such place. I know that!'

He grabbed the chocolate bar that Koyuki had given him earlier that day and thought, 'Except…There's one person…who believes me! …Wait, scratch that, two people. Kyoko believes me too.'

"…_get stronger!" "I have dreams about that place too."_

Ginta smiled slightly at the memories as he looked at the chocolate bar.

Suddenly a vision of a boy with black hair with a deep blue tint, pale skin, and in clothes that were different from modern-day clothes, flashed before Ginta's eyes.

Then, Ginta was floating in pure dark, surprised and confused.

'**Very soon…'** a male voice said.

"Huh…?" Ginta said.

'**The Connection.'** Then Ginta was back in his room.

"What…just happened?" Ginta asked no one and then asked aloud, "Who…said that?!"

_::Hours later, at school::_

"Ginta. Need to talk with you. Now." Kyoko full out demanded as she sat in her chair backwards to face Ginta and had a dead serious look on her face.

"Yeah?" Ginta asked in a half-asleep daze.

"Did a vision of a guy with black hair, pale skin, and weird clothes flash before your eyes?" Kyoko asked loud enough for Ginta to hear, but soft enough that the rest of the class couldn't.

"…Hai." Ginta replied.

"Then started to float in pitch black darkness while hearing a voice say, 'Very soon… The Connection.' and then everything is normal?" Kyoko asked.

"Hai, why do ya ask?" Ginta asked before yawning slightly.

"…Because that happened to me too." Kyoko said in a slightly freaked out voice.

"Weird." Ginta said and it got quiet for a few seconds.

"Your 103rd dream?" Koyuki asked as she tapped Ginta's book with her hand to get his attention and crossed her arms around her back and said, "Tell me about it!"

"Yeah…I'll tell you!" Ginta said as his face and Kyoko's lightened up from the awkward silence.

"Well…" Ginta started to say before…

'**Connected!!!'** the voice from before said as the classroom went pitch black and a weird symbol of circle within a slightly larger circle appeared on the floor; the slightly smaller circle was a face that had two plus signs for eyes and its tongue sticking out, and the slightly larger one had markings in it.

The other students started to panic while Ginta, Koyuki, and Kyoko saw it; a giant monster-thing that floated in mid-air, plus-mark eyes, its tongue sticking out, and three metal chains attached to it.

"Tunnel Open!" it said in a singsong-y tone.

"M-m-monster!!!" one of the students yelled from inside the classroom.

"Get out of here!! Run!! It's normal outside the room!!!" one of the students yelled from outside of the classroom.

The rest of the students except for Koyuki, Kyoko, and Ginta made a mad-dash for the door.

Koyuki's legs failed her as she slumped to the floor and then Ginta picked her up bridal-style and said, "Do you see, Koyuki? It wasn't a dream!!!"

"It really wasn't a dream." Kyoko said as she stepped closer to Ginta and Koyuki.

"It's that world!! But this time…It's not a dream!!!" Ginta said and Kyoko then stood beside them.

"…You…can see?" the thing asked both Ginta and Kyoko.

"Hai, I can see it and so can Ginta." Kyoko said loud and clear.

Koyuki was quiet until she asked, "I…don't see anything. But Ginta and Kyoko can? Can they only see this world?"

The thing threw a dice and it landed on two.

It, the monster thing, said, "It say '2'! Only two can come! You can see, yes? You want to run away from your own world, yes? So tunnel opens for you! Walk in!"

"Kyoko, Ginta, get outta there!!!" one of their classmates shouted.

"Bring Koyuki!!! Hurry!!!" another classmate shouted.

Koyuki said/asked, "I…want to go too. Please?"

It replied, "It say '2'. More than two come…maybe bad thing happen if '3' went."

"Oh…" Koyuki said and Ginta then looked at Koyuki in his arms and turned to the classroom door.

It was quiet as Ginta walked towards the door and placed Koyuki outside of the door and said with determination, "I'm going."

The other students started to panic as they tried to get Ginta and Kyoko out of the room.

"Mou, You're takin' forever Gintan!" Kyoko said in an annoyed tone.

Koyuki then said in a dejected voice, "No fair…Ginta, Kyoko…promise you'll tell me all about it!

"Promise!" both Ginta and Kyoko said at the same time.

Kyoko then said to Ginta with tears of joy threatening to fall from her eyes, "Ginta, I remembered my lost memories from so long ago, and I'll tell you about in the other world."

Ginta then smiled and said, "Okay."

They stepped forward and opened the chained gate and went through it.

The giant gate disappeared and so did the monster-like thing and the classroom went back to normal.

"Ginta…Kyoko…?" a classmate asked the empty classroom.

"They're gone…" another classmate said.

Koyuki then said/asked, "Ha! Is this what they mean by 'a dream come true'?"

_::Meanwhile…::_

In a mountainous wooded area under the light of a waning crescent, a silver ring with clown and a door on it shattered from the finger of an unknown character.(6)

"The Dimension ärm's been destroyed." a small, feminine voice said.

"Superb. That means the summons worked. The other-worlder…is coming here!" said the other calm, male voice.

**But, unbeknownst to those two, they got more than one other-worlder.**

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and…done!!!

so…how was it??????

good, bad, sucks, needs improvement?????? tell me in a review and please be gentle, both my tiny ego and self-esteem bruise easily. like a peach, or a banana, or something that bruises easily. ^_^'

see you next chapter!! ^_^

AUTHOR NOTES!!!:

(1)- i have no idea what this means, i'm just typing it. lol ^_^'

(2)- Yeah… my character, Kyoko, lives in the same apartment complex, but lives on different floor than Ginta in this story.

(3)- Skirts can have pockets!!! lol.

(4)- Gintan is basically 'Ginta-tan', with 'tan' being a cutesy way of saying 'chan' and with 'Ginta' shortened to 'Gin'. does that make any sense at all??? XD lol.

(5)- clocks that use the 'hour hand' and 'minute hand' instead the numbers on a digital clock.

(6)- at least…for now…lol.

EDIT ALERT!!!: I did multiple edits 'cause i reread this and i noticed some errors, that and i'm taking some advise from a reviewer.(i thank said reviewer for their honesty. ^_^)


	2. Meet Babbo

MÄR: remixed and Retold

hello! and welcome to second chapter of MÄR: remixed and Retold! :P

I'm having large amounts of writer's block, homework, A.D.D., etc. that's been messing with my young, weird mind making it weirder than it is now, so please be patient with my other stories, if you had/have read them. _ lol.

BTW… thank you kind reviewers for, well, reviewing. ^_^ and those with constructive criticism: i thank you for it and i will take it into consideration in my fic(s). ^_^

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Disclaimer:

if me owned the manga/anime, do you think i'd be typing fan fiction on my school laptop while listening to music on my ipod in my bed room and then saving it to my Flashdrive thingy so i can put it on 'cause my school laptop has blocked websites like YouTube, , etc. that, and i'd be rolling in cash right _TT me no own MäR, Anzai Nobuyuki-sensei does.

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"blah"- Talking

'blah'- Thinking

_blah_- Flashbacks/scenery changes/letters/dream

**blah**- Narrator/emphasis/other

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'Uhg…my head hurts like hell.' Kyoko thought as she stirred from her peaceful sleep and from her dream about the child who looked and sounded like her and the child's parents, only to find that she was in the place she dreaming of. She sat up and realized that her eyesight went from 20/20 to 20/10 and that she was confused as to how she got there. Then she remembered that she and Ginta went through that weird gate and also her regained memories…

'Wait…where is Ginta?' she thought as she looked left and right, finally spotting him sleeping in the grass with his glasses on.

'Looks like I'm gonna have to wake 'im up.' Kyoko then sighed as she got up, walked over to where Ginta was.

She squatted down next to him, shook his shoulder lightly, and gingerly said, "Wakey, wakey Gintan! We're here, in the world that we've dreamed about."

She did that for five and a half minutes, and Ginta didn't react at all and continued to sleep like a log.

A throbbing vein popped up on her forehead as her temper was getting the best of her as she said, "Gintan! Wake up!"

She did that for fives more minutes, and Ginta still slept like a log and Kyoko patience snapped and her wrath was unleashed fully onto Ginta.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP DAMMIT!" Kyoko shouted as she karate-chopped Ginta's stomach, hard.

Ginta was instantly wide-awake, gripped his stomach in pain and said, "What the hell was that for?"

Ginta forgot his anger and physical pain as blinked a couple of time before asking, "Hey Kyoko, when did you get blurry?"

She then said, "Take off your glasses and take a look around, you dumb-shit."

Kyoko was still pissed at Ginta for sleeping like a rock as she thought, 'How does Ginta's mom wake this boy up in the morning without killing the guy?'

Ginta then removed his glasses and he saw the land he'd been seeing in his dreams, in person this time, and he was completely awe-struck.

'Pinch me, I must be dreaming…' Ginta thought, still staring in disbelieve at the scene before him.

He then felt someone pinched his arm, quite painfully too. He snapped out of it, slightly glared at Kyoko while rubbing his arm, and asked, "What was that for?"

"Sorry, you weren't responding for, like, five minutes, so I pinched your arm to snap you out of it." Kyoko said with a cat-like smile and mischievous glint in her eyes.

She then continued with, "Ginta, I have something important to tell you about my newly remembered past, so I need you to pa-"

But, sadly, Kyoko was cut off when Ginta sprung to his feet, started running, and shouted, "I'm here!"

Kyoko blinked twice before a cat-like smile spread over her face and then she started running after Ginta saying, "Hey Gintan! Wait up, you baka!"

Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from a distance.

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_::About half an hour later…::_

Ginta and Kyoko were panting lightly after running for half an hour. Ginta then looked at his hand and said, "…That's weird."

"What's weird Ginta? Your face, maybe?(1)" Kyoko said while chuckling slightly.

"No…For, like, half an hour…I've been runnin' nonstop…an' I feel great!" Ginta said enthusiastically and he continued, "Usually I wouldn't last five minutes. And I'm faster than ever!"

"I'm still faster than you." Kyoko said with a smug, cat-like grin on her face.

"Whatever…" Ginta retorted as grabbed his glasses from his pocket and put them on his face.

"Hey! My eyesight- it's normal!" Ginta said loudly, slightly awed by his improved eyesight. Kyoko smiled slightly as she said, "Well, that's some good news."

They then heard a voice say, "Hallo, young ones!"

Ginta and Kyoko turned their heads toward the source of the voice, which was a boulder with a face and moustache and next to it was a smaller boulder with a face on it, too.(2) The bigger rock then said/asked, "How sunny you two are! Has something joyous occurred?" with the smaller rock asking, "Really joyous?"

'Sunny? Joyous? Just what century is their vocabulary from?' Kyoko thought somewhat surprised.

"Talking…rocks?" Ginta said/asked as his started to light up and had a giant, goofy smile on his face.

'Way to state the obvious, you baka…' Kyoko thought while secretly giving Ginta a look that said 'you-are-the-world's-biggest-moron'.

Ginta didn't notice the look he was getting from Kyoko as he said, "Joyous is right! I'm really here!"

Kyoko then gave Ginta a death glare that caused a cold shiver to run up Ginta's spine as he remembered someone else had come to this new world with him as he then said, "I-I mean, we're really here…"

Kyoko's facial expression changed from an angry, death glare to a happy, cat-like smile, to which Ginta thought, 'Kyoko gets scary when she's mad…'

"Quite a long since we've seen humans. And may we ask you two a favor?" The bigger boulder asked.

Kyoko then said, "Depends…What's the favor?"

The bigger boulder then said, "Well…the sun's rays are so harsh today…and the waters of the brook would be so soothing…"

Kyoko was going to say something, but was interrupted by Ginta when he loudly said, "You got it!"

They both went to the nearby brook and scooped up some water in their hands. They went back to where the two boulders were and splashed the two rocks with the cold water.

The bigger boulder gave a sigh of relief before saying, "Lovely, lovely! You've restored us, indeed!" to which the smaller boulder said, "Lovely!"

"It was nothin'!" Kyoko said, finished with her task and smiling lightly.

'I haven't smiled this much in a long time…' Kyoko thought.

"But what brings you two here, young ones? Whence you came?" the bigger boulder asked out of genuine curiosity.

'Whence? Seriously, what time period is their vocabulary from!' Kyoko mentally asked herself as Ginta responded to the bigger boulder's question by saying happily, "Japan! A city called Tokyo!"

The bigger boulder said as it looked at the smaller boulder, "Oh? Never heard of it." and the smaller boulder then said, "Never ever."

'Wha-? Never heard of Tokyo? Or Japan? This just getting to freaky…' Kyoko thought, starting to become more and more uneasy, right before the bigger of the two boulders said, "This place you call Tokyo…"

Suddenly, a loud sound of something large and metallic land behind them, drawing their attention from the conversation and towards the living armor standing before them in, what Kyoko guessed, an attack position.

The living armor started to charge at them, causing Ginta and Kyoko to be a bit surprised, and as it got closer and closer, the bigger boulder yelled with a terrified expression, "Run, young ones!"

Instead of running, the two stayed put, gripping the charging armor, and protecting the two boulders.

"…Humans…" The boulder said aloud, astonishment in his face and voice, while he continued in his head with, '…Protecting us?'

"What the hell's your problem?" They both yelled as they both threw the armor part way across the field before it crashed into the grass of the field, with the larger boulder shocked and amazed look on his face as the smaller boulder seemed unaffected by the show of strength.

"…Huh?" Ginta asked himself out loud, greatly confused how he and Kyoko tossed the heavy suit of living armor practically half way across a field.

While Ginta was in awe, Kyoko thought as she looked at her hand wide-eyed, 'Is this really my power level after six years of being in the other world…?'

They then heard clapping, like someone was applauding them, and they looked up to see a pink-haired, deep red-eyed female in a dark blue dress with short, poofy sleeves, simple dark blue cap, boots, and gloves, silver-like rings and bracelet in interesting shapes, and a silver broom-like object sitting next to her as she sat atop a tall, thin, spire-like rock.

She smirked slightly as she said, "Very impressive!"

As she hopped down from where she was, without injury, Ginta asked, while Kyoko was still dazed, "Who are you?"

This snapped Kyoko out of daze and pay attention to female, fifteen-years-old she guessed, who was introducing herself to them.

"My name is Dorothy. Pleasure t' meet you." The pink-haired female said before walking over to the unmoving armor, inspecting it for any damage. Kyoko got a bad vibe from Dorothy and when she glanced over at the boulders, the larger, and obviously knowledgeable, one had a panicked look, the other, smaller boulder was completely oblivious.

'I'm gonna have to keep an eye on her...' Kyoko thought, before Dorothy finished up her inspection of the immobile armor being.

"Hm... it doesn't seem to be damaged..." Dorothy said to herself as she had her hand, palm down, over the unmoving armor. A bright light shone around the armor and then the armor disappeared in a poof of smoke, but a silver ring took the place of the armor. Ginta held an expression of shock and awe, the larger boulder still held a fearful expression, and Kyoko and the smaller boulder were completely unfazed as Dorothy placed it back on her right index finger.

"Defeating a mid-level guardian ӓrm I brought with me is quite impressive. If I may ask what were you two using?" Dorothy asked, but when she opened her eyes, she only saw Ginta with a note on the front of his shirt.

Ginta took the note off and read it aloud:

"Gin-tan, Went to go explore the area a bit more. I'll find you later. From, Kyoko."

Ginta and Dorothy sweat-dropped, before the pinkette asked, "Does she do that a lot?"

"Sadly, yes..." Ginta replied, sighing lightly but not surprised by his friend's behavior, used to disappearing and reappearing at random.

Dorothy quickly examined Ginta and found that he didn't have anything, using only his own strength to throw the living armor. Ginta gaped in pure amazement at the sight, seeing nothing like it before in Tokyo. Ginta's surprise and excitement was very apparent to Dorothy as she explained what ärm were and that there was many of them before she got an idea. She struck up a deal with the blonde-haired male, promising him a simple weapon ärm in exchange for helping her, which he agreed to immediately. As Dorothy and Ginta traveled onward, they were unaware of what transpired with Kyoko.

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Kyoko traveled through the forest at break-neck speeds, focus unbreakable as she ran past strange creatures and thick vegetation, before stopping in front of a battered, old house, ivy-like plants growing all over it. She walked through the front doorway, the door was half-burnt and barely hanging from the top hinge, and found the walls charred and splattered with dark, dried blood. She flinched as memories of that day played in her mind, the screams, the flames, the blood, before she walked over to a small room, which was barely touched unlike the main room of the house.

She crouched beside the small, simple bed and pulled out a small, wooden box from the bed, blowing off the layer of dust before she opened it. She released a sigh of relief as she found the contents of the box untouched, which held many different ärm, but the ones she was concerned about the most was two bracelets. Both bracelets had many metal charms on them, but one bracelet had charms that looked like weapons while the other had charms that looked like special tools.

She closed the box, tucked it under her arm, and walked into a different room and used the rolls of cloth in said room to make herself better, and less obvious, traveling clothes. When she was done and after she changed into her new attire, she put on a few of the ärm that was in the small box and put the small box that held the rest of them into a simple, traveling sack. As Kyoko traveled towards Ginta's presence, she muttered something under her breath before the house was swallowed up by the earth in an instant and new vegetation grew from the empty plot of land, making the existence of the house disappear from the physical world.

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A round ärm with a human male's face, which had a slightly elongated nose and a mustache, connected by a fairly long chain to a large hammer was yelling at Ginta as the blonde male held said ärm in his hands is what Kyoko found when she found the guy.

"Um, Ginta, where'd Dorothy go?" Kyoko asked as she walked towards Ginta and the strange ärm.

Ginta turned his attention to her as he said, "She flew off somewhere, but more importantly, what happened to your clothes?"

Kyoko had on tight, deep-grey, long-sleeved belly-shirt and form-fitting leggings with a slightly baggy, tan-colored belly t-shirt and mid-thigh skirt over it, while she wore tan-brown gloves and traveling shoes. Her long orange hair was in a high ponytail and four barrette ärm, two on each side of her face, held back her bangs, while a decent amount of ärm adorned her body; two anklets on each ankle, two belt-like chains hung perfectly on her hips, three bracelets on each wrist, two necklaces, the one she had on before she came to this new world and a new one, and a choker necklace, one ring on all of her fingers, a belly-button ring, and multiple ear piercings, each piercing different in design and powers.

"Oh? This?" Kyoko asked, giving a one-over of her clothes, before she laughed lightly and said, "I felt the need to change my attire, since a Japanese school uniform would stick out like a sore-thumb in this world and this is much more comfortable, durable, and flexible to move in. Besides, this looks better on me than that uniform."

With that, Kyoko struck a pose and stuck out her tongue, revealing a tongue-ring ärm, causing Ginta to sweat-drop and the living ärm looked on with an inquisitive look on his face.

The unusually-buxom female looked at Ginta, then at the living ärm, before she asked in a flirty tone, "And who might this suave-looking gentleman be?"

Kyoko could almost feel the ego of the ärm in front of her inflate dramatically as he smugly said, "The name is Babbo young miss, and who might you be?"

"I am Kyoko Akacho, a good friend of Gintan's. We both came from a different world, but, sadly, Gintan doesn't have an ärm to protect himself..." She said, her tone changing from happy to a mix of neutrality and sadness, before her tone became more pleading as she said, "Babbo-kun, since you're such strong, suave gentleman and you can easily protect him from harm, could you please travel with us...?"

She then gave Babbo a pleading face with puppy-eyes with a slight pout and small traces of tears, before the ärm said smugly, "Of course, my darling. After-all, a gentleman should never leave a lady like yourself with a brute like Ginta."

Ginta gave an indignant huff, but he knew from the beginning that Kyoko was buttering Babbo up and using lies and crocodile tears to get him to join them. And since it was working, he couldn't truly be angry at Kyoko, but Babbo was a different story.

Kyoko inwardly smirked darkly in victory as she smiled lightly at Babbo as she said, "Thank you Babbo-kun!"

With that, the three set out and explored the area until the sun was setting in the sky and a crescent moon was above their heads. Everyone was hungry from all that had happened today, before Ginta and Kyoko spotted a small farm with a full garden in the light of the moon...

* * *

Yay! Chapter two is done!

It took me forever to get back to this, since I have multiple projects up and I can't keep a good plot in my head for a long time, or else I lose it forever...

If you haven't noticed, my writing style changed a bit in my break from this fan-fiction.

And I apologize for the slow updates, sometimes my depression acts up and I lose my drive and inspiration to write... TT^TT

Please review? Just for the sake of reviewing? :3


	3. Jack, Alviss, and New Mysteries

Hello all~!

MÄR: Remixed and Retold is back for a third chapter!

I give my humblest thanks to the people who read and review my stories in general, it makes my heart warm and fuzzy. ^_^

Disclaimer: I only own my OC, Kyoko. Everything else belongs to Anzai Nobuyuki-sensei or their rightful owners.

* * *

"blah"- Talking

'blah'- Thinking

_blah_- Flashbacks/scenery changes/letters/dream

**blah**- Narrator/emphasis/other

* * *

'This is such a bad thing to do, but my hunger is making it hard to not eat...' Kyoko thought as she, Ginta, and Babbo munched hungrily at the garden of odd vegetables in front of them, not caring if they got caught.

But their impromptu feast was interrupted by a male voice angrily and fearfully yelling, "Le-leave this place at once, ya monsters! Get off my land right now, or I'll have yer heads!"

The odd trio looked up from their meal to see a male about the same age as Ginta and Kyoko with dark, spiky hair, dark eyes, lightly tanned skin, and whisker marks on his cheeks, while wearing a green tank-top, loose beige pants held up by a belt, and shoes with a small spike on each. The group stared at the male while he stared at them, the sounds of the night being the only sound heard.

Finally, the male asks, "Wh-who're you guys?"

_:: A few minutes and an explanation later... ::_

"These veggies are really good! Could I have another Obaa-san?" Ginta asked rudely as he ate at the table inside the farm's house, before Kyoko smacked him upside the head as she said sternly, "Gintan, don't talk with your mouth full and ask her more politely."

"It's no problem Kyoko-san! We don't have human guests that often, so eat your fill!" The mother of the male, whose name was Jack, said happily as she brought them more vegetables in a big bowl.

Jack looked at Ginta and Kyoko nervously as he asked them, "Just who are you guys?"

"I'm Ginta!" The blonde male said before going back to stuffing his face, before Kyoko continued more politely with, "And I'm Kyoko, and we both came from a different world. It's very nice to meet you."

Jack glanced at Babbo from the corner of his eyes, as Babbo happily said, "Thank you kindly madam! I was intending to decline your offer, but Kyoko-chan was able to persuade me otherwise!"

'That's an ärm ain't it? Why does it talk! No wait, why's it alive! Wait, why is it eating our food! Or rather, how's it eating things that are bigger than its' body?' Jack thought confusedly, his mind reeling as to why and how it was possible for a living ärm to exist.

While Jack was lost in deep confusion, Ginta asked Jack's mother, "Hey Obaa-san, do you two live together?"

Kyoko face-palmed, annoyed at how Ginta didn't listen to what was said earlier, but, then again, the three were quite hungry and listening wasn't at the top of functions needed at that time for the blonde male. Kyoko, however, listened to Jack and his mother's story while filling her empty stomach.

But the elder woman merely smiled as she said, "That's m' son, Jack. We live on this farm and grow our own food, and what we don't eat, we sell in the nearby market."

The blonde male gave a blank stare for a few seconds, before his cheeks went a slight red as he said in a guilty tone, "I'm sorry, but I don't have any money..."

Kyoko was about to face-palm herself, but Jack's mother merely laughed it off as she said, "It's no big deal! Rest here as long as you need to!"

Jack's mother grinned even wider as she continued with, "Having you here makes me feel like a mom again and it'll keep me on my toes! I'll make my special soup tomorrow for dinner!"

Ginta was quiet for a few seconds, thinking of his own mother and the time she made a special meal, as he inwardly wondered, 'I wonder how mom's doing...', but he said aloud with a smile, "Thanks Obaa-san!"

Suddenly, a long, ominous wolf's howl pierced the peaceful night, putting everyone on edge and ready for the worst as Jack quickly moved. The dark-haired flung the door open very quickly, but all that was there was a piece of paper with a paw-print on it that was nailed to the side of the barn. After a quick explanation, Ginta, Kyoko, and Babbo learned that Jack and his mother have been dealing with two vegetarian werewolves, known as the "Rugalu Brothers", who have been pillaging their field for a year.

Ginta, feeling empathetic for Jack and his mom, said in a light tone, "I'm sorry to hear that Jack..."

Jack waved off the concern from Ginta before Babbo said in a heroic tone, "For a year, huh...? Jack, don't you think it's time for you to push forward and fight for your land and yourself!"

Jack abruptly stood from his chair as he loudly said, "You don't think I've tried? But each time...!"

He then remembered the times he froze up out of fear, the pain from trying to be brave but failing miserably. How the Rugalu Brothers openly mocked him and his inability to activate his ärm to defend his land and himself.

Before Babbo could make a tactless comment, Ginta punched him in the face as Kyoko said, "What we mean to say is, that if you need any help in getting rid of them, we're here to help you guys in any way we can..."

Jack and his mother humbly declined the offer, with Jack's mother saying, "Worst case is that we have to replant the fields. I just want Jack to be safe, after all, he's the only family I have left."

The next night, while everyone was sleeping, or so he thought, Jack armed himself as best he could and waited outside, eyebrows furrowed and determined gleam in his eye as his opponents now stood a few feet in front of Jack. The two werewolf brothers mocked Jack, but he stood tall as he took it and informed the Rugalu Brothers that they weren't welcome to eating in his field anymore. Jack then got knocked around a little, but he stood strong as he got back up and faced his foes once and for all, despite any self-doubt and fear that he felt. While Jack fought against one of the two, the other werewolf brother was visited by a strange man with a pointy hat and an odd ärm wrapped around his right arm and neck, who was introduced as Peta, who asked of them to get a rare ärm, by the name of Babbo, for fifty-million pewter. Meanwhile, Jack was getting knocked around by the werewolf he was facing, but he still didn't back down despite that he probably couldn't last much longer.

The werewolf sneered at Jack as he said, "Tell ya what Jack, since I've taken a liking to the crap you grow here and as long as some-one is around to grow it, I'll just your old-hag of a mother in your place!"

That was the last straw for Jack and his fear completely disappeared, now filled with a strong desire to protect his only family as he activated his ärm, Battle Shovel, and started fighting back the brute who dared threaten his family. Things got much more violent and Jack was down for the count, before the other werewolf brother, who was watching the fight, took a bite out of what he thought was another vegetable in the garden, but found out that it was a round ärm painted to look like a vegetable, which was glaring very angrily at said werewolf.

Babbo, the ärm quite annoyed that he was bitten into, although he sustained no damage and the werewolf had a few broken teeth, said in an angered, disgusted manner, "Having the gall to try and eat a gentleman, you insolent swine!"

Babbo then proceeded to head-butt the werewolf, who was now holding him in the stomach in pain, before he smiled at Jack as he said, "Jack, you're a real man now!"

Ginta then appeared on the roof, claiming that the numbers were even despite that he didn't include Babbo, to which the ärm yelled at the blonde-male for not including him. Peta looked over to see what the noise was about, only to see the ärm that he was looking for was just a few yards away. The fight continued with Ginta and Babbo blocking hits at them and dishing out attacks until they knocked out the one werewolf, but the other one was about to attack them from behind. Luckily, Jack was able to hit the other werewolf in the face fairly hard with his ärm, breaking a few more teeth and knocking him out cold. With the defeat of the werewolves, Jack gained confidence in himself and he, Ginta, and Babbo celebrated their victory for a bit, unaware that Kyoko had watched the entire ordeal with a prideful glee.

'They're both far from being true ärm-users, but I believe they can become even stronger...' Kyoko thought as she returned to her bed, as to not reveal to the two males that she was awake the whole time.

_:: In the morning... ::_

When Jack informed his mother of how he, with some help from Ginta and Babbo, defeated the Rugalu Brothers the previous night, the older woman slapped the dark-haired male across the face. Ginta and Babbo's jaws hit the floor in pure shock while Kyoko lightly ate her breakfast, unaffected by the scene before her, mainly because she had a feeling Jack's mother would do something along those lines. Jack's mom yelled at him and looked like she was about to smack him again, to which Jack prepared for the slap this time, but it didn't come.

Instead he was hugged tightly by his mom, with tears in the corners of her eyes, as she said, "Thank goodness you're alive Jack..."

Jack hugged her back as he said, "Sorry I made ya worry Ma..."

Kyoko and Ginta smiled warmly at the scene, to which the two thought of their own moms, but Kyoko subtlety flinched at the painful last few memories of her mother while Ginta's eyes became distant as he felt slightly homesick. Later that day, after Kyoko, Ginta, Babbo, and Jack discussed a few things, with Ginta getting some new clothes so he doesn't stand out as much and Jack's mom wanting Jack to travel with them, the four set out to explore the world. They reached Paji town, where Jack informed them that this town was where he would sell the veggies he grew and that there were many different types of ärm sold here. Kyoko told the others that she had something to shop for by herself and they agreed on a meeting spot before they went their separate ways in the market. She thoroughly searched the marketplace until found what she was looking for, a shop that sold resources like wood, metal, gems, etc.

Kyoko walked straight to the counter where an elderly man with kind eyes and a long white stood and kindly inquired, "I'd like to purchase some semi-rare materials, but I want to make sure you have any at all first... So, do you have any Enchanted Silver and gems...?"

The old man smiled kindly as he nodded and said, "I have quite a bit, but I have to keep it in a secured room to avoid theft. You may accompany me to said room if you so wish."

Kyoko happily agreed and walked a few steps behind the elderly man as they went through a few door until they reached an ärm door with an odd keyhole. The old man opened the door with an ärm key and it revealed a large amount of Enchanted Silver and gems.

"A few years ago, a friend of mine by the name of Arthur Alphonse made that door and key for me, and told me to hold on to these just in case he and his wife, Erica, died. He also said that foresaw that the only person who would ask for these items would be his daughter when she would return to this country from a faraway land..." The old man said, causing Kyoko to quickly turn around and have a look of shock and recognition as she asked wearily, "Ojii-chan? Leo-ojii-chan...? Is that you...?"

Leo smiled and nodded before Kyoko hugged him lightly and said, "It's so good to see a familiar face! I missed you!"

He smiled brightly as he said, "And as did I child," before Leo's expression became sad as he said, "...I also want to give my condolences, despite it being so long..."

Kyoko gave a small melancholy smile as she said, "Thank you Ojii-chan, but a lot has happened in six years... But back to business..."

She was about pull out her wallet, but the Leo stopped her and said, "No need to pay child, you have gone through so much and these belong to your family, so they belong to you... Besides, it's the least I can do..."

Kyoko happily thanked him before she used one of her earring ärms to collect and store the materials without affecting the weight of the ärm. The two caught up from being apart for six years, before she sensed Ginta, Jack, and Babbo were in trouble and her body tensed a bit.

Leo noticed this and he then said, "Go, your friends need you..."

Kyoko smiled before she took off one of her rings and placed it in Leo's wrinkled hand as she said, "This will protect you from theft, fires, or anything else that might hurt you or your business, so make sure to keep on you at all times."

Leo nodded before he slipped it onto one of his fingers and smiled at Kyoko, who smiled back and turned to leave, but then Leo said, "Wait!"

Kyoko turned to face Leo as he said, "Good luck to you on your travels Morgana, and I hope to see you again..."

Kyoko smiled genuinely at Leo, who used her original first-name since she didn't tell him of her Japanese name, before she said, "Thank you Ojii-chan, I promise to come back alive and well!"

The orange-haired female ran at top speed to where Ginta and Jack were, leaving a trail of dust in her wake and many confused people in the marketplace. When she found them, Jack had attacked a bandit with his shovel and the bandit blocked it with his sword before Ginta ran towards a sack that Kyoko sensed Babbo in. The bandit was about to attack Ginta, but a reaper-like entity stopped him in his tracks and it was then Kyoko sensed a fairly powerful ärm-user near Ginta's location. Kyoko, panicking slightly, used one her ärms to teleport to Ginta and Babbo just as the powerful ärm-user revealed himself to them. He had black hair with a dark-blue tint, blue eyes, two small red upside-down triangles under his left eye, and a light skin tone with dark pants, a white t-shirt multiple zippers, metallic-looking shoes, multiple ring ärms, and a chain ärm hanging from the left side of his waist.

"Just as Bell informed me, The seal of Babbo has been released..." The sixteen year old male ärm-user said, his voice very familiar to Kyoko and Ginta before they realized his voice was the same one that summoned them to this new world.

"Darkness Ärm: 'Caged Bird'..." The teen male said, flicking one of his rings up and, suddenly, Jack was transformed into a bird and was trapped in a birdcage.

The teen male continued with, "Just as you two suspect, I'm the one who called you guys to 'MÄR Heaven'. It's a pleasure to meet you, although I didn't expect a second person..."

While Ginta was awed and was going on about whatever he was talking about, Kyoko was glaring at the dark-haired male before she asked angrily, "What is your name, what is your reason for revealing yourself to us now, and why the hell did you use a darkness ärm on Jack?"

The teen boy's face was stoic before he lightly exhaled and said, "My name is Alviss, my reason for showing myself and using that darkness ärm on your companion is none of your concern..."

Kyoko glared harder at Alviss as she said, "I damn-well believe it's our concern to know!"

She then extended her right index finger, which had a ring ärm with two intersecting angel wings on it under her gloves, and pointed it at Jack as she said, "Holy Ärm: 'Curse Release'!"

With that, Jack was returned to normal and the cage was destroyed, surprising Alviss and the males around her. She turned to Ginta and gave him a look that said, 'I'll tell you later', before she said, "Nature Ärm: 'Wind Scythe'!"

Kyoko was now full on glaring holes at Alviss as she held a large, lithe scythe with wind patterns on it and was ready to use it before she said, "If this has anything to do with Babbo, the dark entity within him is not there any and he has no memories of any previous lives he lived, whether it be his real personality or the one that you had encountered years ago. And don't look so shocked, I used an ärm to look into your memories and can easily tell that the Babbo you faced had a completely different soul than the one, his original soul, that he has now, let alone personality..."

Everyone present looked at the orange-haired female in pure shock and awe, before Alviss glared at Kyoko with equal intensity as he said, "Even so, you can't protect them against the Chess Pieces by yourself."

Ginta and Jack looked confused, so Alviss explained with, "Six years ago, a powerful but evil group known as the Chess Pieces wreaked havoc and destruction upon MÄR Heaven. Many powerful ärm-users banded together and were able to kill the Chess Pieces' most powerful member and commander, scattering their forces to the outskirts of civilization and they haven't been heard of since then. But now they're regrouping and reconstructing their forces once again!"

Alviss tried to punch Ginta, but Kyoko quickly swung her scythe and a burst of cutting wind hit him dead-on, sending him flying a few feet back before he righted himself as he said, "But my point is, I called you two here to help me get rid of the Chess Pieces for good, but I only got one powerful other-worlder instead of two... Especially since it was an other-worlder like yourselves that was the strongest of our forces when fighting against the Chess Pieces..."

Kyoko scuffed at Alviss as she retorted with, "First things first, I'm originally from MÄR Heaven; my parents gave me a dimension ärm that took me to the other world as a last-ditch effort in saving my life when the Chess Pieces started their first attack on MÄR Heaven, which erased any knowledge of who I was and where I was from until I either died in the other world or I returned to MÄR Heaven! Secondly, did **you** know how to use when you first started out? No, I don't think so! Ginta has the heightened senses, strength, and the determination to become strong, but you're just too closed-minded and assume that other-worlders are capable of being powerful ärm-users right off the bat!"

Alviss was taken aback, as was everyone else, for he **definitely** wasn't expecting that kind of response _**and**_ having his judgement of power and skill being questioned. In retrospect, he did remember that the other-worlder from six years previous had gone through multiple training-sessions before taking on the Chess Pieces, but he wasn't going to completely admit that out loud.

Alviss kept his composure as he stated, "I did have an error in my ways of thinking and I apologize for that, but there's a bigger problem on our hands..."

He then pointed at Babbo as he continued with, "Even without the dark entity within him, he was the ärm that belonged to the commander of the Chess Pieces, 'Phantom'! With 'The Seal of Babbo' destroyed, he will soon rise again!"

Jack flattered slightly as he said nervously, "B-but that's i-impossible! Y-you said t-that he w-was killed!"

Alviss sighed lightly before he said in a serious tone, "Phantom can not truly die. He's a living corpse and he will certainly rise again."

Ginta and Kyoko, accidentally synchronizing their words, said in a courageous manner, "Then we'll kick his ass and make sure he stays dead!"

Alviss then smirked lightly as he said, "Fine, I'll leave you guys be. I just wanted to make sure of something..."

Before Alviss could turn to go, Kyoko was immediately in front of him and placed a ring ärm in his hand and said in hushed voice that only he could hear, "This will slow down the progression of your Zombie Tattoo by more than half. It's not much, but it's one less thing to worry about and it's my apology for attacking you, despite the fact I was holding back..."

Alviss merely nodded, turned, and walked away from the group, feeling oddly grateful of the orange-haired girl's kindness and more at-ease knowing they're not going to join the Chess Pieces. He then realized that the orange-haired girl was stronger and more mysterious than she lets on, causing a tiny smile to spread across his face when he finally was out of sight of Ginta and his friends.

After Alviss was too far away to be seen anymore, Kyoko turned to see Ginta, Jack, and Babbo looking at her with the expectation of getting an explanation. She sighed as she thought in an exasperated manner, 'This is going to take a while...'

Kyoko put her hands up in mock-defeat manner as she said, "Alright, alright! I'll tell you all you need to know, but first let's get out of here and set up a temporary base-camp!"

They all agreed on that option and left the area, not expecting anything that Kyoko was going to share...

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YAY~! Another chapter done~! :D

Please read and review~ :)


	4. The Truth, Edward, and Princess Snow

Hello and welcome to Chapter 4 of "MÄR: Remixed and Retold" by yours truly~! :D

Reviews/Favorites/Update-Alerts from you guys helps motivate me and warms my heart~ :)

Important Note: Kyoko will, in this chapter and the rest of the story, will be called Morgana, her proper name. Ginta, out of habit, will still address her as Kyoko once in awhile.

Disclaimer: I only own my OC, Kyoko. Everything else belongs to Anzai Nobuyuki-sensei or their rightful owners.

* * *

"blah"- Talking

'blah'- Thinking

_blah_- Flashbacks/scenery changes/letters/dream

**blah**- Narrator/emphasis/other

* * *

After a simple camp-area was set-up and a warm fire was lit, the group sat around the fire and waited for Morgana to speak, unanswered questions swimming around their heads.

The orange-haired female knew she couldn't avoid this, so she inhaled deeply and began with, "Kyoko Akacho is the name I received when I became a part of the other world, known as the planet Earth in the island nation of Japan. My real name, the name I was given at birth by my biological parents, is Morgana Alphonse and I'm of the ärmsmith guild of Calserveilea. My parents, Erica and Arthur Alphonse, were the leaders and founders of this guild with sixty people . Their birthplace is Caldea, an island country independent of MÄR Heaven full of wizards, witches, and ärm-crafters, but they wanted to make ärms a part of life in MÄR Heaven and many others agreed with them, so they appealed to the king of Caldea and were just barely given permission to do so..."

Morgana paused, but only for a second or two, before she continued with, "A few years later, I was born and raised by my kind and loving parents. By the time I could walk and talk, they started to teach me the ways of ärm-crafting and how to use Magic-Energy, which is the key to using an ärm's true power. Before I reached seven years of age, I could craft ärm like a professional, properly use them in battle, and was powerful for my age. By age eight, the Chess Pieces had started their attack and my family and I were taken by surprise, so my parents died in front of my eyes while protecting me. Before I could've been killed, I activated a dimension ärm that brought to Japan, but the ärm was a one-time use only ärm and it dissolved immediately after I was transported and my memories were erased as a side-effect of the ärm. And the rest is history..."

It was quiet for a few seconds before Ginta said, "Whether you're Kyoko or Morgana, you're still my friend and that's all that matters to me."

Jack and Babbo nodded, agreeing with Ginta's statement, as Morgana smiled lightly and said, "Thanks guys, that means a lot..."

Babbo, being the gentleman that he was, asked Morgana politely, "Is there a preference in which name you want to be addressed as?"

Morgana thought for a few seconds before she said, "I'd prefer to be called Morgana, since it **is** my real name, but you could use either one if you want."

Babbo smiled lightly at Morgana as he said, "As you wish, Morgana..."

Morgana smiled genuinely as she stood, arched her back to get stiffness out, and lightly yawned before she said, "Well, it was a long day today and tomorrow we'll start training to get stronger, so I'm heading to bed..."

She pointed her hand at a clear patch of ground as Morgana said, "Unique Ärm: 'Portable House'."

One of the earring ärms on her right ear, seven earring ärms on each ear, glowed lightly and a decently-sized house appeared. It looked like it could fit two more people in it easily and it seemed to have the ability to become invisible and undetectable.

Morgana smiled at them as she said, "There's plenty of room for everyone, so all you would need to do is put out the fire and come inside, since there are plenty of comfy beds..."

The others, preferring the idea of sleeping in a warm, comfy bed, immediately extinguished the fire and entered the cozy little house. When the door closed behind them, the house instantly blended into its' surrounds and anyone would think that the area was just an abandoned campsite. Everyone slept peacefully that night, but with the excitement of improving their skills the next day.

_:: The Next Morning ::_

The boys sat in front of the standing Morgana as she asked, "What makes an ärm most useful and most powerful in battle?"

Ginta raised his hand and said, "Pure strength!"

Morgana smacked Ginta over the head with a paper fan that she pulled from nowhere as she said, "Incorrect! The correct answer is 'Magic-Energy'!"

While Ginta had a small lump on his head, the boys listened to Morgana as she said, "Magic-Energy is what brings out the true potential of one's ärm! Both Babbo and Jack's Battle Shovel have the capability to have their power enhanced, however, I don't own any magic-gems that properly fit into them, but that doesn't mean we can't work on the 'Sixth-Sense'! This ability, when mastered, makes it easier to predict an enemy's movements, attacks, weak-points, so on and so forth! So even without any special abilities for your ärm, you can defeat an enemy faster and more easily! We'll start with a basic exercise to enhance the Sixth-Sense! Unique Ärm: 'Fake-Out Dummy'!"

One of the ärm earrings on her left ear glowed and produced two human-shaped burlap dummies, one for Ginta and one for Jack, before Morgana continued with, "These dummies will only disappear when you hit its' weak point, which can only be found with one's Sixth-Sense. If you just hit the dummies randomly, they will attack back with greater force, so don't think you'll find these weak points with just pure luck. To truly use the Sixth-Sense, one must connect on a deeper level with one's ärm and form a magic connection. The Chess Pieces, even their weakest forces, have the minimum of a rough grasp and use of the Sixth-Sense, which makes even the weakest ones more powerful than you two combined! If you two don't want either yourselves or many innocent people to die at the hands of the Chess Pieces, then work on your Sixth-Sense with all your heart and soul and push yourself to the point of exhaustion!"

The boys nodded with determined looks on their faces as Morgana then stated, "Start now, I'll check back in a twenty minutes as I explore the area. If you two finish before I get back, then do some physical training until I return, but if don't have at least a basic grasp and use of your Sixth-Sense, there will be punishment... Ginta will inform you of what my punishments usually entail..."

The orange-haired female then walked off, knowing that it's best to get the ball rolling sooner than later, especially when dealing with the Chess Pieces.

_:: Fifteen Minutes Later ::_

'I should head back now, but this is an interesting discovery...' Morgana thought as she found a dog wearing a santa-hat, glasses, and blue jeans held up by a belt and suspenders passed out in front of her.

She lightly shook the dog's shoulder as she said, "Hey dog, wake up! It's not safe to be asleep in the middle of the woods!"

The dog immediately woke up and tried to knock himself out, causing Morgana to say in a weirded-out voice, "Hey! That's not healthy you know! If you need help, then me and my friends can help you! But you need to stop that and tell me your name! By the way, my name's Morgana."

The dog stopped as he said, "My name is Edward and if we don't move quickly, the princess will not make it...!"

Morgana sensed his urgency as she placed Edward on her back piggy-back style and said, "Hold on tight, Edward!"

With that, Morgana sped off to where she left Ginta and Jack to train. When she made it back, Jack had just destroyed his dummy while Ginta was doing push-ups, having finished the Sixth-Sense training a few minutes ago. The two looked at Morgana and immediately sensed something wrong as they noticed Edward carried on her back.

"Not much time to explain boys, but we've got a princess's life on the line! Holy Ärm: 'Healing Angel'!" Morgana said, using one of her bracelet ärm to heal Jack and Ginta and restore their energy back to normal. The group, with Edward leading the way, soon came across a castle that was completely covered in ice and snow as snowflakes continued to fall around them.

Edward explained with, "This is the power of the princess's nature ärm, ice and snow, and it shows that the princess is still alive."

Edward's expression saddened greatly as he continued with, "The princess and I were chased here... In a more southerly continent, the princess lived a happy and loving life with her parents, the king and queen, but the queen died of her illness and the king married an evil, greedy woman. The queen quickly took control of the kingdom and anyone who opposed her were immediately killed. The new queen then set her blood-thirsty gaze on the princess, so I took her and ran away as quickly as possible. We encountered and escaped from enemies and crossed land and sea until we reached this castle..."

Edward was in tears at this point as he said, "The princess then sealed herself within the very ice she controlled...! And if she isn't released from her own icy seal, then she'll surely...!"

Ginta patted Edward on the head as he, Jack, and Morgana stood brave and determined as the blonde male said, "We'll save her, so leave it to us!"

The group entered the castle, finding it completely abandoned, to which Edward told them that the castle was abandoned long before they found it. Ginta, being the curious boy that he was, asked Edward what the princess was like.

The dog-person smiled in a mixed manner of happy and sad as he said, "She has a heart of gold and is the kindest soul that you will ever meet in your life..."

As they climbed the stairs to where the princess was, Edward continued to talk about the princess in the highest of manners and how the princess was a good soul caught up in bad circumstances that she couldn't control. He also expressed how guilty he felt when he had to leave the princess in search of help, before Ginta smacked him over the head and told Edward to not give up and that the princess has faith in him. This gave Edward hope and put him at ease, before they made it to the top of the staircase to find a large, dark room.

Morgana sensed a powerful ärm-user, when, suddenly, a knife was at Ginta's throat and a female's voice said, "Don't move...", but the female was revealed to be Dorothy, to which she and Ginta were happily surprised to see each other.

The group gave Dorothy the story they knew, before the pinkette said, "I see... That explains all the snow and ice..."

After a quick chat, the group and Dorothy went their separate ways, with Dorothy facing against nine shadowy figures while the rest went to where the princess was, having no time to waste with the princess's life on the line.

Morgana randomly smacked Jack and Ginta behind the heads as she said in an agitated manner, "I see we still have more work to do on your Sixth-Sense, since you two can't sense a person's Magic-Energy level or the amount of people in a certain area. I'm saying this because you didn't sense Dorothy's Magic-Energy or the Magic-Energy of the nine weak enemies that were also in the room with us, which could mean the difference between life and death in other dangerous situations..."

Morgana's words hit a sore-spot for Ginta and Jack, but they made sense; it's easier to fight someone if you knew how powerful they were and knew where they were, so they nodded in agreement and silently promised to improve even more. They also heard the concern in her voice, which also made sense since Morgana saw her parents die in front of her eyes and she didn't want that happening to her friends. They then reached the room where the princess was in, only to find that the door was open which caused a deep concern within them. Ginta and Jack vaguely sensed three people inside the room, two unfamiliar Magic-Energy auras with one more powerful than the other, and one that was powerful, but vaguely familiar.

Morgana then whispered to the boys, "That's Alviss; he's keeping an eye on your progress and to make sure we don't join the Chess Pieces..."

The boys nodded before the group shoved the door open to see two people, a young girl with blonde pigtails, soulless eyes, and a very powerful Magic-Energy level and a male of about eighteen with an odd mask, spiky black hair, and a moderate Magic-Energy level, with a young female that looked like Koyuki frozen within an icy prison.

Before Ginta could react, Morgana placed a hand on his shoulder as she said, "Ginta, it may look like Koyuki, but she's back in Japan and probably in the middle of class right now! That's the princess that Edward's been talking about!"

Ginta was able to calm down, knowing that Morgana was right, as Edward said, "Ms. Morgana is correct! The girl you see before you is the rightful heir to the kingdom of Lestava, Princess Snow!"

While Ginta was slightly confused, Morgana explained with, "Lestava is the most powerful kingdom in all of MÄR Heaven, so she's basically the princess of princesses. Meaning something very bad is happening in MÄR Heaven for this to be happening..."

"And for these ruffians to try and hurt an innocent girl! As a gentleman, I can not allow this to happen!" Babbo said as he and Ginta synced their auras and had their Sixth-Sense ready to battle, Jack not to far behind in preparing for battle.

"I couldn't agree more, Babbo...!" Morgana said loudly as she ready to fight and waiting for the first move.

The two enemies talked amongst themselves, the girl looking like she didn't want to waste time and energy fighting the group in front of them, before the teenaged male walked forward with his mask off, revealing fox-like slitted eyes and a cocky grin, as he said, "So you guys wanna fight, huh? 'Kay, I'll take you all on! But I have to warn ya, I won't go easy on ya!"

"Oh, it's so on right now!" Morgana yelled as the male continued with, "Excellent! I kinda like you guys! So, what's your names and allegiance?"

The three charged forward as they shouted:

"Name's Jack and my allegiance is to protecting my friends and family!"

"The name's Ginta Toramizu! And my allegiance is to my friends and my middle school class year two, class three!"

"Morgana Alphonse of the Ärmsmiths Guild of Calserveilea! And my allegiance is to my friends and my guild!"

"My name's Ian," The male, now known as Ian, said before he continued with, "And my allegiance is to the 'Chess Pieces'!"

Jack and Ginta froze up as Morgana continued forward while Ian tried to attack them with the quick movements of his unknown ärm. But Morgana was quicker and with her Wind Scythe, which was activated so quickly that no one knew she had even activated said ärm, she sent forth a well-aimed attack that knocked Ian's unknown ärm off its' course and it missed the two boys. Jack and Ginta snapped out of it and moved quickly, Jack falling back to protect Edward and Ginta forward as Morgana's back-up.

"If the Chess Pieces are after Princess Snow, that means the queen's hired guards are...!" Jack started, before Edward finished with, "Yes! The hired guards I mentioned earlier are the Chess Pieces! The castle in Lestava is the Chess Pieces' base of operations!"

"Ginta..." Morgana stated, voice quiet enough for only the blonde male to hear, as she finished with, "This is more Sixth-Sense practice; use it to see as many of Ian's attacks as you can, dodge them, and injure him as much as possible. I'll redirect any attacks that you can't sense, but the other attacks against you are up to you, so make your temporary sensei proud..."

Ginta smiled excitedly, liking how this was practice and a real battle all in one, as he energetically said, "Gotcha!"

With that, Ginta charged forward, dodging the attacks he could see and sense while Morgana deflected the attacks that slipped past him, but she was surprised by how he dodged almost all the attacks. She smiled lightly knowing that Ginta was improving faster than expected, especially when she saw him get a few attacks on Ian and continued to dodge almost flawlessly. Alviss, hiding behind one of the many pillars with his fairy companion Bell, watched in awe at how much Ginta and Jack had improved and the teamwork between the three of them.

"Gah! Hey Loco! A little help here!" Ian shouted at the blonde girl with pigtails, hoping for some help, but Loco merely said, "Sorry, but I'd rather not waste my time on them. Besides, this is a great way to pass the time while we wait for Halloween to arrive with the flame ärm..."

"But more importantly," Loco said, before directing this question at Ginta, "Why are you using such a weak form? Why aren't you transforming him?"

"'Cause I don't wanna!" Ginta yelled, lying that Babbo could transform when he couldn't, before throwing Babbo in the air, to which he became the size of a large boulder and landed on top of Ian, with Ginta just barely out of Babbo's range.

The blowback from Babbo sent Jack less than a foot back and caused Edward to pass-out, while Ian said happily while grinning and gripping his one arm, "Good one, kid! You're a little crazy, but you managed to break my right arm! Hahahaha-ouch!"

Ginta, feel tired from fighting Ian, was panting lightly as he said, "You're... not a... bad fighter... yourself..."

"Morgana! Ginta! Something's happening to Edward! He passed out, but now he's glowing and-" Jack said in a panicked manner, before he was interrupted by a loud 'poof' that came from where Edward lay.

"Good Night..." A masculine voice said, the smoke clearing and revealing a man with long brunette hair in a ponytail, a long white trench-coat, and two scars on the right side of his face, before he continued with, "And good morning."

The brunette man walked over to Ginta and patted him on the head as he said, "Ya did good kid, I'm impressed..."

Morgana's eye lit up as she remembered the face and voice as she asked him excitedly, "Alan? Alan of the Cross-Guard? Is that you?"

The brunette man looked over to see Morgana and recognized her immediately as he said, "Good to see you too squirt, but the name's Ed now and I've been watching you guys from inside Edward the dog. We used to be separate beings, but now we're stuck sharing the same existence. When Ed the dog falls asleep three times, I come out, but when I fall asleep once, Ed the dog comes out. Seems kinda unfair, doesn't it? Hahahaha!"

Ginta, quite confused, asked the two, "You guys know each other?"

Morgana turned to Ginta as she happily said, "My parents were close to the most powerful people in the Cross-Guard when they were first formed, so I got to meet, train under the strongest of them, and even became friends with a few of them, including Ed here!"

Ian tried to attack the group, but Ed easily caught it before he said, "So it's a bracelet class weapon ärm, 'Python Whip'. Ya gotta good ärm here, but the user lacks the necessary skills to use it properly..."

While Ian stood in shock at Ed's ability, Loco then said, "Stand down Ian. We're outnumbered and, at the moment, out-matched. It would be pointless to continue this battle."

"Now then," Ed said as he released Ian's ärm and walked over to Ginta, before he said, "You're name's 'Ginta' right? Put out your hand."

Ginta did as he was told, to which Ed placed an ärm in his hand before he said, "This is the flame ärm, now go use it to lift Snow's seal. All ya need to do is throw it at the right spot, so go!"

Ginta smiled widely as he ran towards Snow's icy imprisonment and Ian tried to stop him, but Morgana was faster as she moved in front of Ian and sent him back with a powerful palm hit straight to the middle of his chest. Ed gave the orange-haired girl an approving nod to which she gave him a smile as to silently communicate with him, the way they used to before her parents were killed.

Ed spoke in an annoyed manner to Ian, "Even your comrade told you to stand down, but you still try? Cocky brat..."

Morgana then said in a strong voice, "Don't you know this is the part where the prince wakes the sleeping princess? If so, then don't fuck it up!"

Ginta was now in front of Snow's icy seal before he threw the flame ärm and released her from her own ice. Jack gave shouts of success while Ed and Morgana were lightly smiling, but then Snow, as she was falling, made lip-to-lip contact with Ginta before the two crashed to the ground. The blonde male immediately got up and looked over at Babbo and Jack, to which the dark-haired male made a kissy-face and the he and Babbo nodded, confirming that Ginta and Snow accidentally kissed each other.

While Ginta was blushing heavily, Snow looked around, not fully realizing what had just happened, before her eyes landed on Ed and said with a smile, "Ed! I knew you'd come to save me!"

"Not exactly Snow, Edward the dog came here with some help and the one who saved you is that blonde kid on the floor." Morgana said, a light smile on her face.

"Morgana...? Is that you...?" Snow asked with a mix of disbelief and relief, to which Morgana nodded in confirmation and was then promptly hugged by the dark-haired girl.

Ed looked on slightly confused before Snow said, "Morgana's parents and my parents became close friends after their initial meeting. They would meet up every once-in-awhile, so Morgana and I also became good friends!"

Suddenly, off to the side where Loco was, a shadowy figure appeared and said to her, "Sorry I'm late, Loco! Is the princess still alive?"

The figure was male and wore a dark cloak and a pumpkin mask with spikes at the top, with a necklace ärm around his neck and his body strapped to a giant metal cross, but Loco wasn't intimidated and was quite angry as she said, "You took your sweet time, Halloween. Because of that, the situation has changed. I'm quite angry about this!"

Halloween, not affected by Loco's anger, said calmly, "Things on our side have changed as well. The party has ended and I'm here to give out the new orders. **'In order to prepare for the second war on MÄR Heaven, all members of the Chess Pieces are to gather at H.Q'**!"

Before the two Chess Pieces could continue their conversation, Morgana yelled, "Hey! You tomato-headed mother fucker!"

Halloween turned and saw Morgana standing with a rage filled eyes as she asked, "Remember me asshole?"

The pumpkin-masked male immediately did before he laughed maniacally and said, "Indeed I do child! How could I forget the face of the one that got away as I eliminated your parents right in front of your eyes? It is quite the surprise... Kukukukukukuku~!"

In the background, Snow had just woken up Ginta, to which Morgana said with her eyes full of hate and a smug smirk, "Well I have a few surprises for you; One, that blonde kid behind me, Ginta, is from the other world! Two, Babbo isn't Phantom's ärm anymore because he doesn't have the dark entity within him, the being you knew him as. Three, Ginta and Babbo fight as comrades and the two broke Ian's arm. And four..."

She extended her arm out and gave them a thumbs-down before she continued with, "Me and my friends are gonna kick the Chess Pieces' asses!"

Halloween immediately burst into laughter before he said, "We'll see about that child! Looks like 'Capture the princess' and 'Retrieve Babbo' are to be put on hold, since we have the orders to gather... The other things that are going to be on hold is 'Kill the other-worlder' and 'Eliminate the Ärmsmith girl'! Hyahahahahahaha~!"

The three Chess Pieces members were teleported away, Halloween's haunting laughter the only thing that filled the room as he left, before Ginta yelled, "Get back here you cowards!"

Morgana could only chuckle, surprised at Ginta's energy and spunk, before she said to Ed, "Let's regroup, re-energize, and figure out our options at a different location..."

Then Ginta fainted as he remembered that he had kissed Snow and Snow was blushing madly, to which Ed added, "I agree, but let's get some rest first..."

Morgana chuckled, but silently agreed, knowing that it was well-deserved and that the group needs it for their future challenges...

* * *

OMG! I got this done in a reasonable amount of time! Holy shit!

Review please~! Flames will be ignored/deleted, constructive criticism will be accepted, considered, and possibly implemented, and kind/encouraging/complimentary reviews will make me smile and help motivate me~! :)


	5. Training Gates, Nanashi, and Vestry

'Sup mothafuckas~! :D

And welcome to another chapter of "MÄR: Remixed and Retold"~! :)

Disclaimer: I only own Morgana (a.k.a. Kyoko), everything else belongs to their rightful owners...

* * *

"blah"- Talking

'blah'- Thinking

_blah_- Flashbacks/scenery changes/letters/dream

**blah**- Narrator/emphasis/other

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'Even after all this time, Alan **still** makes badly misunderstood jokes...' Morgana couldn't help but think as she watched as Ed purposely gave Ginta and Jack very little food and Babbo none, all the while he had a feast on his side of the table in the restaurant they were eating in, which was located in a small port town known as Pelika.

Morgana sighed inwardly as the boys reacted in the way Ed wanted them to, to which she quietly ate from her plate full of food, before Snow said in a scolding manner, "Cut it out Ed! Let them eat what they want."

Snow then turned to the rest of the group as she said with a sweet smile, "And I would really like to thank you guys for rescuing me! I'm grateful for all that you did! Also, please call me Snow!"

After some proper-but-quick introductions, Ed got serious as he said, "Now then, we should start this meeting with an information briefing, to which we'll plan our next course of action..."

They all nodded before Morgana, who also was in a serious state of mind, said professionally, "Ginta and I came to MÄR-Heaven via the Gatekeeper Clown approximately ten days ago and acquired Babbo on the same day. The three of us traveled for about seven days, during which I covertly took care of any bandits and thieves along our path, before we encountered Jack and his mother, to which they gave us food and shelter for a day-and-a-half. The four of us then traveled to and spent one day in Paji Town, where I was able to get supplies and the guys did some window-shopping, before the boys ran into some bandits and said bandits took Babbo. We were able to retrieve him without much trouble and continued on our journey before I started training them and their Sixth-Sense, to which I then found Edward the dog out-cold on the ground near our base camp. When I returned with Edward, the boys were able to make slight progress in their training, to which we followed Edward to where Snow was and the rest is history."

Ed gave a contemplative look as he said, "I see," before he looked at the dark-haired princess and said, "Snow!"

"Right!" Snow said as she quickly got out a map and unrolled it in the middle of the table, to which Ed said, "This is MÄR-Heaven."

"Right now, we're here," Morgana said as she pointed to a small island in the north as she continued with, "A small island by the name of Pajilika. It has only two towns and no head-of-government, meaning the country is run by the people."

"What? We're in the boondocks?" Ginta asked, to which Jack responded with, "And what's wrong with that?"

Ed then pointed to a large country in the south and recaptured the boy's attention as he said, "Here is the country of Lestava, Snow's place of birth and the Chess Pieces' H.Q."

After discussing things, Ed and Snow joined the group before they finished up their meal and traveled to secluded wooded area. Ed then revealed that the cave that Babbo was sealed was created by him, the box couldn't be opened by someone with Magic-Energy, and that the Guardian Ärm would kill anyone the non-Magic-Energy being, making it the perfect trap. Ed then used some Magic-Energy to blast a nearby column, which revealed Dorothy, who was a familiar face to Morgana, Ginta, Jack, and Babbo. Ginta explained to Ed that he and Dorothy got Babbo together, but it seemed that a fight was about to break out between Ed and Dorothy.

But Snow quickly intervened as she put herself between the two as she said, "No fighting! She's a friend of Ginta's, right? Then she can't be a bad person!"

After that was settled, Ed gave Ginta three Enchanted-Gems to give Babbo the ability to become stronger, before the brunette male sent Dorothy, Jack, Ginta, and Snow into a training dimension via two ornate doors that opened up from under them. The doors soon closed, keeping the four in there for their allotted time as Ed was in a state of nostalgia.

Morgana smiled as she sat herself against a nearby tree as she said, "Ah, the 'Training Gate' dimension ärm, I got so much stronger through that, just as Boss did, although he came to MÄR-Heaven a few days after I was teleported to Ginta's world... I actually met Boss before he came here, he had a wife who wrote fantasy books and a blonde kid with spiky hair. And that kid's name was Toramizu Ginta, the same kid you just sent to get stronger..."

Ed grinned at the orange-haired girl, who had been and still is a little sister to him, before he chuckled lightly and said, "Like father, like son I suppose..."

He then pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke it, to which Morgana said, "Those things are so bad for your health, but I guess it's one of the few ways to stay awake..."

Morgana pulled out a cigarette-like object and placed it between her lips before Ed commented with, "And you're scolding me for smoking..."

The orange-haired girl grinned as she replied with, "It's not tobacco, it's a paikuraka cigarette, better known to everyone as a kig-stick. In Ginta's world, there's plant that's similar to the paikuraka plant known as cannabis, but it has a slightly different high, you tend to be more forgetful when one smokes it, and it can sometimes gets one too relaxed that it wouldn't work for self-defense, and they would call a cannabis cigarette a joint..."

Morgana then lit the kig-stick and took a good hit before she said, "Besides, you introduced it to me so I wouldn't tell the other members of the Cross-Guard, because it's a legal, but hard-to-find substance and they would've wanted some if I did tell them about it..."

Ed had forgotten about that detail before he asked, "Speaking of hard-to-get, how did you get some?"

Morgana, now a bit more relaxed but still clear-minded and alert, said fluidly, "I had found two healthy, adult paikuraka plants, one male and one female, a good mile-and-a-half in the wooded area north of where my house is, well was before I gave the remnants of it and my parents a proper burial..."

It was quiet for a second or so before she continued with, "Anyways, I collected about half of the buds from the plants and made sure I collected all the fertile seeds from them. And since their maximum fertility levels last about ten years and I can use my nature ärms to make them grow, I'm able to have an unlimited stock."

Ed breathed in his cigarette smoke as he clicked his tongue before he said, "All I can say is, you're one lucky kid, squirt."

Morgana chuckled lightly before she said, "No worries Ed, I'm willing to share since I have plenty of it..."

Ed nodded with a light smirk, before he looked over at a Magic-Energy signature and said, "You behind the bushes and trees, come out!"

The figure came forward and it was revealed to be Alviss with Bell sitting on his left shoulder, before he then said to Ed, "It's been awhile Alan!"

Ed's cigarette nearly fell out of his mouth as he remembered Alviss when he was younger before he said, "I remember you! You were that kid that joined the Cross Guard six years ago! You grew up and became more powerful since I last saw ya!"

Morgana then asked Ed, "You two know each other?"

It was then that Alviss noticed Morgana against the tree, but Ed was quicker as he said, "We're both members of the Cross Guard."

Ed then turned to Alviss and said, "And I know Morgana because the first of the Cross Guard, before we officially formed it, were good friends with her parents. When Morgana was introduced to us, we slowly but surely became friends and comrades with her."

"Ah, those were good times: the playful nicknames, the hard days of training, the nights of eating and laughing..." Morgana said in a pleased, nostalgic voice, before Ed interjected in a sarcastic manner, "The pranks you played on us, the crap you put us through, the days when you woke up at the crack of dawn and then proceeded to wake us up in the loudest, most obnoxious manner..."

She then pouted lightly as she said, "Most kids are mischievous at that age and you guys got your revenge by using tickle-torture on me until I was gasping for air! Besides, you were able to laugh about it later and I did those things during our first couple of days together because I wanted to see if you were good people, see if you could tolerate future comrades, and see how well you could handle unexpected situations..."

Ed and Alviss stared in disbelief before she continued with, "Besides, why do you think my parents never really punished me for my 'bad behavior'? They knew what I was doing and let me confirm what they already knew. And didn't you notice that I basically stopped doing the pranks and such when I felt you were trustworthy? And the 'scolding' they gave me the day of? They were just playing along and made the whole thing look like I just had behavior issues, but they actually raised me to be very polite and respectful. They also raised me to be cautious and wary of people's intentions..."

Ed, in retrospect, made a lot of sense, but Alviss then remembered something and said, "Oh! I wish to thank you for the ärm you gave me. I have noticed that my 'condition' is spreading at a much slower pace than it was before..."

Morgana smiled at Alviss as she said, "It's no big deal. In fact, I have some spares just in case, because it's a really strong curse and, sooner or later, it will eventually overwhelm the ärm and..."

And right as she was about to finish her sentence, the ring ärm that was holding back Alviss's curse broke and crumbled to pieces, causing the orange-haired girl to say, "Shit! Didn't think it would break that quickly, but, luckily, the spares I made are much more powerful than the previous one..."

Morgana got up, walked over to Alviss, and handed him a small pouch full of the new ring ärms, before she turned to Ed and said, "I met Alviss when Babbo was stolen and we were getting him back. He helped take care of the other bandits, informed us me and Ginta that he used the Gatekeeper Clown to bring us here, and gave us some warnings about the Chess Pieces."

She then stretched and said, "Well, I'm hungry, so I'm gonna get some food! I'll make sure to bring back some for you Ed."

With that, Morgana sprinted off into the forest to gather food, leaving Ed and Alviss alone to talk. The two talked about their current situation, their curses, and the past, before Ed informed Alviss that Ginta was Boss's son, that Boss was just as weak as Ginta before he became stronger, and that Morgana had met Boss before he came to MÄR-Heaven. Then a distress call through Ed's earring ärm that the Chess Pieces were attacking, but he didn't move an inch.

"Alan! You've got to help them!" Alviss yelled at him, but he still didn't budge.

"He wants to Alviss, but he can't," Morgana said, coming through the bushes with fruits, vegetables, and a large roasted pig, before she continued with, "Not only does Ed have the Training Gates activated, but also two guardian ärms, so even if he wanted to go and save them, he can't. I stayed with Ed to bring food and water, keep him awake, and fight off any Chess Pieces that may come our way. It's not the greatest situation, but it's what we've got right now!"

Alviss nodded in understanding before Ed said, "Go help them in my place Alviss..."

He nodded again before heading off, determined to help as many as he can.

_:: Three Days Later... ::_

Ed was at his limit and Morgana couldn't do much about it as she thought, 'Shit! This is not good! Hurry up Ginta!'

"Found you doggy boy and carrot-top!" A unpleasantly familiar voice said, causing Ed and Morgana to look over and see Ian and a masked pawn.

Morgana glared them down as she smirked evilly and said, "Oh, come back for another ass-whooping fuck-face? Well, I'll gladly serve you a hearty plate of it with a side of bruises and broken bones, all topped off with a drizzle of your leaking bodily fluids!"

Ian didn't even flinch as he said with a sinister grin, "I just want to know where Ginta is. I want a rematch!"

Morgana's smirk grew even bigger as she said, "Gintan ain't here right now, so tough luck! If ya wanna fight him, you'll have to go through me first!"

With that, Ian shot out a multitude of attacks from his new ärm, Weapon Ärm: Octopus, at Morgana, but his attacks were deflected by an unseen source. Her smirk grew again as she bolted forward and punched him right in the gut, knocking the breath out of him as he was sent flying back and through two trees. Ian was able to get up and the pawn tried to move closer to him, but Morgana merely glared at the pawn, freezing their movements out of fear.

"Guardian Ärm: 'Ultimate Defense' is the only guardian ärm that moves moves with the ärm-user, which I created at six years of age and still use it to this day. No one can destroy it or find away around it and since it moves with its' user, it's truly the perfect defense." Morgana said, completely calm as she waited for Ian to attack again.

And as she predicted, Ian attacked her again, but his attacks were cut to pieces by Ginta, who was finally done with his three days of training. Ginta took over for Morgana, showing Babbo's new forms, his first one being 'Hammer and Dagger', a two-in-one weapon ärm that smashes and slices, and the second being 'Bubble Launcher', a gun that shoots out Babbo-shaped bubbles that explode and double as a distraction. Morgana admired smart but creative transformations for Babbo, especially their successful use in battle, before Ginta punched Ian with Babbo's hammer form in the stomach. Ian started to cough up blood, wondering how Ginta got so strong, before Jack and Dorothy returned from their training as well, with Dorothy covering Ginta in kisses which made Snow very jealous. The pawn, Gido, told Ian to heal himself with their holy ärm as they went up against Jack, assuming that he was weak. Jack threw the pawn back with an earth blast with his newly improved Battle Shovel, before Ian offered a holy ärm, Angel of Healing, to the group in exchange for healing the pawn and leaving in peace.

"He's telling the truth..." Morgana said, having activated an ärm of hers that shows if someone is lying or not.

Ginta gladly accepted the deal, to which they found out that Gido is female as she said to Ian as she was being healed, "I apologize Ian..."

After she was healed, Ian handed Morgana the holy ärm, but before the two Chess Pieces could leave, Morgana gave Ian an intricate and ornate ärm sphere and said, "This is just a little message for not only your higher-ups, but for all of MÄR-Heaven as well. And I'll know if it's properly delivered or not, so you better not try anything sneaky..."

Ian smirked as he took the orb-ärm and the two Chess Pieces disappeared, with Ian promising Ginta for a true rematch, to which Ed gave them a warning before promptly passing out and transforming back to Edward the dog. Edward said his greetings before angrily yelling at Ginta for stealing Snow's first kiss by accident in the castle, to which chaos broke loose amongst the group.

_:: Meanwhile, at the Chess Pieces' H.Q. ::_

"I was given this orb-like ärm by a chick with orange-hair and purple eyes by the name of Morgana. And she not to do any funny business to it or she'll kick my ass 'till I'm six feet under, but she also said that it was a message to you guys and the rest of the world..." Ian explained to the Knight-Class Chess Pieces that he stood in front of.

The strongest of them, a man of about twenty with silver hair, a bandaged arm, and an ornate mask that only covered his eyes, held out his hand and ordered, "Give it to me, I'm familiar with this type of ärm..."

Ian then nodded as he said, "Of course, Phantom..."

Ian gave Phantom the spherical ärm, to which the silver-haired man quickly solved the puzzle-sphere ärm and activated it, before it fell to the floor and projected a pre-recorded full-sized image of Morgana standing calmly.

The image of Morgana, completely calm and stoic, then said, "Greetings. For those who don't know me, I am Morgana Alphonse, daughter of the deceased Erica and Arthur Alphonse and true heir to the Ärmsmiths Guild of Calserveilea. I wish to inform you that I am well-aware that Halloween, the killer of my parents and the one who nearly killed me, was ordered to specifically kill me and my parents by your 'Queen', to which Halloween and your Queen are the targets of my hate and anger, but with their deaths will my parent's cruel deaths be justified. And when this message is finished, another message will be broadcasted to all of MÄR-Heaven and to my remaining guild-brethren. To those who wish to interfere with my plans, friends, or comrades, I will not show mercy..."

With that, the ärm imploded on itself and released a ball of energy that zoomed towards the sky, to which it displayed a complete image of Morgana in the sky, being seen and heard by all of MÄR-Heaven, before the image said, "Greetings to all of MÄR-Heaven! I am Morgana Alphonse, daughter of the deceased Erica and Arthur Alphonse and true heir to the Ärmsmiths Guild of Calserveilea! I have returned from a far land and I'm calling out to any remaining members of our brethren! If you wish to join me, then I welcome you! If you wish not to fight, but are willing to help my cause, then I welcome you as well! If you wish not to get involved, I'm an understanding person and will not judge your choice, but if have joined the Chess Pieces, then I will show no mercy on your soul! To those who have given up and have lost all hope, I will not quit until peace has returned to MÄR-Heaven nor will my friends, who have formed a new resistance against the Chess Pieces! For as my mother once said to me, 'Darkness, whether it be in the world or in our hearts, is only caused by an obstacle of some kind blocking the light! But if one is able to face this obstacle and get rid of it, then one shall gain back their light, with lessons learnt and a stronger resolve!' So please, join us or support us in our fight to return MÄR-Heaven to its' former glory!"

When the image of Morgana was finished speaking, said image dissolved into pieces of light and spread across MÄR-Heaven, healing the injured, stopping the fires, regrowing lost vegetation, and giving some hope back to MÄR-Heaven's inhabitants.

"We will start the War-Games sooner than expected." Phantom said calmly before he continued with, "I will be in my chambers, planning our next moves, so wish not to be disturbed..."

The other Chess Pieces gave either victorious yells or blood-lust filled grins as Phantom, with no one questioning his reasons to be alone, retreated to his quarters and closed the door. He walked to his bed and laid down on it, not to sleep or nap, but to rest his immortal body as he closed his eyes and thought of his past:

"_Mr. Tom! I made you something!" A young girl with shining purple eyes and orange hair that was just as short as his said as she ran up to him excitedly._

_Phantom, under the name Tom, smiled genuinely at the small girl as he asked, "What is it Morgana?"_

_She stopped in front of him, showed him a simple non-ärm ring that had a capital 'T' that was on her index finger, and handed him a matching non-ärm ring with a capital 'M' on it, before she said, "Well, since it's your last day staying in this area and I might never see you again, I made us matching rings to represent our friendship! That way we'll always be together and never forget each other!"_

_Phantom examined the finely crafted ring and found that it was too small for his fingers, but Morgana then said slightly dejected, "If you don't like it, you don't have to keep it..."_

_He lightly shook his head while he smiled at the girl and said, "It's a very beautiful piece, it's just a little small for my fingers..."_

_Morgana nodded before an idea came to her, causing her to smile, and she pulled out a silver necklace-chain and said to him, "You can use this to wear it!"_

_He slipped the ring onto the chain and put it around his neck, finding that it looked nice on him, before he smiled at her and said, "It's lovely, thank you."_

_Morgana smiled widely before she hugged Phantom lightly and lightly asked, "Promise that we'll still be friends when we see eachother again?"_

_He grinned at her, unknowingly showing love and affection in his eyes, as he lightly kissed her forehead as he softly said, "I promise."_

Phantom opened his eyes and gripped at his chest until he found what he was looking for; the necklace that held the ring he got from Morgana a little more than six years ago before he let out a small sigh of relief, got up, and walked over to a small window.

Phantom grinned genuinely, which he hasn't happened since the day she disappeared, as he thought, 'I wonder if she still has the ring she made...'

_:: Meanwhile, with Ginta and friends... ::_

Morgana lightly sneezed, to which she thought, 'Someone must be thinking of me...', while she wiped her nose on a handkerchief, feeling embarrassed because she had interrupted Snow's sentence.

"Sorry," Morgana said quickly, before she then said, "As you were saying, Snow?"

Snow nodded as she picked back up with, "I ran from Lestava, because I was given this prophecy before I left the castle: 'Please escape from the castle, princess! And then you shall make a new faction. Search out seven allies. These allies will prove to be the ones who will save you and MÄR-Heaven...'"

"I'll stay with you guys, even if I locate my brethren. My guild and your new faction will be allies, our goal a common one." Morgana said, earning nods from everyone since they saw the projection of her in the sky just a few moments ago and knew that she had her own group to lead when it does regroup.

"How about 'MÄR' as our team name?" Ginta inquired, earning agreements and wisecracks.

With everyone in agreement, Team MÄR set off to the mainland. Everyone, except Dorothy and Morgana, were using a Magic Carpet transportation ärm, while Dorothy used her broom and Morgana on her Dimension Ärm: Flying Nimbus, one of her four barrette ärm. After a few minutes of flying over the ocean, the group finally spotted land, but they were unaware of what was to come. Suddenly, a multitude of spears come flying at the group, mainly at the Magic Carpet, before the carpet crash-landed with Dorothy and Morgana landing softer and more smoothly than their comrades. After checking and finding that everyone was okay, the group found themselves surrounded by unknown ärm-users, with a male of eighteen years, long blonde hair that went past his waist, and green eyes that were partially covered by a red headband at the front.

The unknown blonde-male stepped towards them as he asked them as he moved his light-blue scarf away from his mouth, his tone icy, "You guys are Chess Pieces, right?"

"Then your judgement is death!" The blonde-male continued, giving the group a thumbs-down.

Ginta, with his temper rising, yelled at the odd, blonde male, "We're 'Team MÄR'! You guys are the Chess Pieces!"

Ginta continued to yell at the older male, said male thinking something over, before he realised he made a mistake and said childishly, "I messed up, didn't I?"

The blonde male then said, "We're not the Chess either! We're the thieves guild, 'Luberia'! I'm their leader, Nanashi. Sorry 'bout the mix-up."

Snow then asked Nanashi, "If you're Luberia, does that mean you're gonna steal our ärm?"

Nanashi noticed Dorothy and Snow before he blushed and said, "I don't steal from cute girls, but I love to escort them!"

The other thieves had to calm Nanashi down, but while Edward was mourning the loss of his Magic Carpet, Morgana walked over to him and said, "Don't be so glum Edward! I can easily fix it, or just make a new one for you!"

Nanashi heard Morgana's voice and turned to see her, blushing slightly when he saw her, before he asked, "You're the leader of Calserveilia, Morgana Alphonse, right?"

She made eye-contact with him as she said, "That would be me, but I have yet to make contact with any of my comrades so I can't really call myself their leader just yet..."

Nanashi nodded before he asked them, "We were just about to go back to our H.Q. and since you guys are against the Chess as well, wanna come with us?"

With everyone in agreement, Nanashi teleported everyone back to Luberia's base with his dimension ärm, Andarta. When the group was in the fortified base of Luberia, they gave Nanashi a full explanation of their circumstances, which explained a lot of things to blonde thief.

Morgana was distracted by a familiar Magic-Energy aura in the area, but still listened to the conversation before Nanashi said, "There's more I wish to show you guys. This way."

Morgana and Team MÄR were led by Nanashi to an area outside of the base, where they saw a saddening sight: a large amount of graves with crude, makeshift grave-markers spread-out over a fairly large area. Nanashi then explained that they were his fallen comrades, that it was the Chess Pieces' doing, and that this was happening in other areas across MÄR-Heaven.

Edward was about to speak, but Morgana extended her right hand as she said in a calm, level voice, "Unique Ärm: 'Respectful Burial'..."

There was a blinding light for a few seconds, but when it cleared, it left everyone in a shocked silence: The grave-sites were now leveled-out, each grave now had a proper tombstone with the names of the deceased on it, and each grave had a small but simple bouquet of flowers on them.

"Every person deserves a proper burial and a proper place for loved-ones and/or comrades to pay their respects, even if they may not deserve it or didn't get the chance to get one. My parents, also killed by the Chess Pieces, are an example of ones who didn't the chance for either a proper burial or gravesite..." Morgana said calmly, making Team MÄR and Nanashi turn to her to see tears in the corners of her eyes.

Morgana wiped them away before they could escape down her cheeks as she said, "But the ruthless killing of these innocent people needs to end, so they need not be buried and mourned!"

Due to some confusion, mainly from Ginta, Edward fully explained the War Games to everyone, the mere description of it causing everyone's blood to boil before Ginta punched the wall next to him. Enraged that the War Games were a mere blood-sport to the Chess Pieces, Ginta was now more determined than before to defeat the Chess Pieces before one of Nanashi's comrades informed him that a few of the Chess were in Vestry, an area north-west of their current location. Since Vestry was in range of Andarta, Nanashi invited Team MÄR and Morgana to go with him, to which they readily agreed and were immediately teleported to Vestry.

When they arrived, Vestry was in complete ruins; all the buildings were reduced to rubble, there were small fires here and there, and people who did survive the attack looked depressed and hopeless. After talking with some of the down-hearted people of Vestry and found that the two Chess Pieces went into the cave leading to the underground lake, the cave system supposedly haunted, the group split up into two groups; Snow, Jack, and Edward stayed in the village to heal its' people and rebuild the town, while Nanashi, Ginta, Morgana, and Dorothy went into the cave system to fight the Chess Pieces down there.

When the four came to a fork in the cave system, they played 'rock, paper, scissors' to decide who was going with who; Nanashi went with Dorothy and Morgana went with Ginta as spirits of the dead were circling around them. Morgana felt that familiar Magic-Energy aura yet again as she, Ginta, and Babbo continued down the corridor before the three sensed another person with them and called them out. A man of about twenty years of age with silver hair, purple eyes that were a few shades lighter than Morgana's, and a bandaged arm, his clothes simple and wearing a necklace with a ring looped on the chain, which had the letter 'M' on it, around his neck.

Morgana's eyes widened with recognition, while Ginta and Babbo prepared for battle, before a big smile spread across her face as she happily asked, "Tom? Is that you?"

Tom smiled as he nodded before her smile grew bigger as she said to the boys, "It's alright guys! He's not an enemy! In fact, Tom's a good friend of mine from before I came to your world Ginta!"

Ginta smiled at Tom as he said, "Nice to meet you! My name's Ginta Toramizu!"

Tom smiled lightly at the blonde male as he said, "Nice to meet you as well, Ginta."

"So what bring you here Tom?" Morgana asked, excited to see an old friend of hers after so long, before Tom said, "I've been living in Vestry for a few weeks now, and all of us are thankful for your kind and generous efforts. I'm not the strongest, but seeing you guys inspired me to help in any way I can, even if it's just guiding you three through the caves."

"Oh! Ginta, Tom is a traveler, never one to stay in one place for more than three months! I met him when he set up a temporary camp not too far from my house! I offered him to stay there, but he turned it down..." Morgana said, finishing her sentence with a slight pout.

Tom light-heartedly chuckled at her childlike expression before he said, "I always feel like I'm burdening someone when I stay with them. Besides, I'm used to being self-sufficient so it wasn't that big of a deal..."

"Whatever," Morgana said before she turned to Ginta and asked, "Hey Ginta, I'd like to talk to Tom in private, so if it's not too much to ask, could you and Babbo...?"

"Gotcha! I'll let you two catch up and all that!" Ginta said before he and Babbo walked until the two couldn't hear Morgana and Tom.

Morgana's expression became serious as she turned to Tom and said, "I know who you really are, who you're affiliated to, and why you're here..."

He froze up, not expecting this nor wanting to blow his cover, before Morgana continued with, "But I still see you as a good friend of mine, so I'm not gonna say anything to Ginta or any of my other friends. When the time comes, I'll play dumb and pretend I don't know what I know, but I just want to ask you a few things..."

Tom nodded and relaxed his body, knowing that she was completely honest, before she asked, "When we first met, were you a part of...?"

He nodded as he said, "I was for about two years before I met you... And I still am..."

Morgana, hiding her pain internally, then asked him, "Why...?"

Tom took a deep breath before he said, "Humans are vile and rotten creatures and I wish to rid the world of them..."

Morgana made eye-contact with Tom, to which he saw pain and sadness in her deep-purple orbs, as she said, "Not all humans are like that. If they were, you would have killed me without a second thought when we first saw each other..."

Tom was quiet, knowing that she had saw a flaw in his ways, she asked one last question, "Did you know that Halloween was ordered to kill me and my parents because we became friends...?"

His eyes widened, a sudden wave of guilt hitting him, before Morgana, a sad smile on her face as tears were about to fall, said with her voice trembling slightly, "Even when we're supposed to be enemies and with knowing what I know now, I still see you as one of my best friend..."

Suddenly and without warning, Tom hugged her tightly as he whispered in her ear, "I've been hurt by humans in the past and those wounds are still with me to this day, but if you can still believe in me and care about me, I... I might be able to change..."

He released the hug, feeling awkward for doing so, but was instantly mesmerized by Morgana's bright smile, remnants of her tears in the corners of her hopeful eyes, as she said, "I wouldn't give up on you or anything else, even with the world against me!"

Tom couldn't help but stare in awe, warm feelings rising in his chest that he hasn't felt for so long, before Morgana said with a smile still on her face, "C'mon Tom! Ginta can only wait for so long!"

A warm, genuine smile spread across Tom's face, having a feeling that he might actually be able to come through on his words, before he followed after Morgana to where Ginta was so they could continue onward.

* * *

And done! :D

This chapter took more time than usual, but I hope you guys enjoy it!

I am fully aware of the drug references and OOC-ness of certain characters, and to those who don't like that: Either deal with it or GTFO... t(-_-t)


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